Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy in children with cancer.

We reviewed the clinical course of 32 children with cancer who received nutrition through a feeding tube placed percutaneously during gastroscopy (PEG). Their median age was 5.1 y (75%, range: 1.8-13.7 y, min: 3.5 mo) when the PEG was done 0.7-23 mo after diagnosis (median: 1.8 mo, 75%; range: 0.9-8 mo). Five of the children underwent bone marrow transplantation with the gastrostomy in place. There was a significant (p = 0.0001) decrease in the median weight-for-age SDS of 0.55 (75%, range: -1.18-0.28) from the time of diagnosis to placement of the gastrostomy. Twenty-two percent of the children had neutrophils < 0.5 x 10(9)l at the time of placement. There were no major postoperative complications. Seventy-two percent of the patients experienced a total of 55 minor and transient complications including leakage of gastric juice (n = 29), superficial wound infections (n = 23), mechanical problems (n = 2), or bleeding (n = 1). There were no documented cases of bacteraemia. Twelve of the wound infections (52%) arose during neutropenic episodes. Two tubes were replaced due to mechanical problems. There was a median increase in weight SDS of 0.3 (75%, range: -0.6-1.1) from the time of placing the gastrostomy to the end of follow-up (p = 0.054). Nutrition via gastrostomy in children with cancer has several advantages. It is rarely associated with more than minor complications, it is cosmetically more acceptable than the nasogastric tube and it improves nutrition at far lower cost than parenteral nutrition. In selected cases in which bone marrow transplantation or intensive treatment protocols are planned, we suggest that a gastrostomy should be considered before malnutrition develops.